Another update for this weekend! Birle's not in this one, as she got the last chapter all to herself. Hope you enjoy reading it, and remember to review!

Disclaimer: I do not own On Fortune's Wheel, and probably never will.

Orien laughed as his brother clapped on the shoulder. "Well, brother, it seems you've beaten us all! Not one, but two stags have you caught these past three days! Tav there is the only other one of us who's even come close to bagging one of them! We'll all eat well when we return thanks to you!" He smiled.

Orien was truly enjoying himself on this trip. He'd never admit it, but he was glad that Gladaegal had made him come. It was definitely more interesting than working out the fine details of the Trader's Day, which was now in no fewer than two days. Perhaps he would serve his stags then, and let the people feast on them... he didn't know how the men might react to that, but he liked the idea. This seemed like the most perfect day... he never wanted it to end.

Griffin watched in horror as Lyss ran from him. What had he done? She'd get lost in there for sure! Why oh why had he had to just lean in and kiss her like that without any warning at all? He couldn't imagine what she must have thought... he could imagine, however, that it was nothing good, judging by her reaction.

What was he going to do! He couldn't abandon her... who knew what might be waiting for her in that place? Maybe he could go back for help... no, that wouldn't work. It'd take way too long... whatever he did, he would have to do himself.

But he knew no more about this strange forest than Lyss did. If he went in, he'd probably get himself lost even faster than she would, and where would they be then? There was only on thing to do. Much as he hated it, he did need some help. But he still couldn't waste time by going back... there was nobody in the village who would be able to help him, anyway. As far as he knew, he and Lyss were the only ones ever to leave. He would have to wait by the side of the road, and hope someone friendly with some knowledge of this forest would come by and help him. It seemed like an awful plan—who knew if anyone was even coming! But he couldn't think of anything better to do. God, if anything happened to her... Griffin didn't know what he would do.

After running through the woods for what felt like hours, Lyss finally collapsed at the foot of a huge oak tree from sheer exhaustion. Panting, she began to cry softly to herself. What was she going to do? Taking a deep breath, she tried to steady herself. Maybe running from Griffin hadn't been the smartest thing to do... but she was too weak and exhausted at the moment to care. She'd worry about everything in the morning...

When she woke, Lyss felt a lot better. She also felt a lot thirstier. Oh, no... that was when she realized that in her confused state the previous night, she'd run away from Griffin with nothing more than the clothes on her back. She had nothing.

For a moment, this thought scared her to death. But then she pushed that away. She was fine... see, there was a creek just a few feet to the left of her. There must be one, she could hear it...

Going to investigate this sound of water, Lyss climbed carefully over the forest roots and full bushes, her thirst pushing her on. She soon reached, to her surprise, a small but steep cliff that led down to a sort of lake. There didn't seem to be much of a beach next to this lake... the place was like a large valley that had been filled in with water. It looked deep, too. Lyss shuddered as she noticed that bit of it. She didn't know how to swim, there being no river by the cottage... but she needed to drink something. Trying to tell herself that nothing could possibly happen and not really believing it, Lyss very slowly began to make her way down the side of the cliff towards the small lake.

A few minutes later, she was about halfway down when there was suddenly a large indent in the cliff. There was nothing for her to stand on. Realizing how she would have to lower herself, Lyss began to feel slightly sick. But she quickly shook that off and got a good grip on the lowest root she could. Carefully, she allowed fist one leg and then the other to dangle over the nearest ledge. Quickly, she grabbed a lower root and attempted to bring herself down gently. Unfortunately for her, however, this new root wasn't as strong as the previous one. Spraying dirt across her face, it ripped out of the wall and sent Lyss flying out into thin air before she had a chance to grab anything else.

With a splash, she entered the ice cold water. Gasping, Lyss found with dread that she had not been wrong about the lake being deep.

She thrashed about desperately and felt her clothes beginning to drag her down. Even if she could make it to the edge, there was nothing to pull herself out onto. She couldn't see, she couldn't breathe, there was no one to help her. Oh god, this was it... she was going to drown, right here, right now, and there was nothing she could do about it. Why did she ever leave... would her mother even know what became of her? Choking, Lyss began to yell, even enough she knew the chances of someone being near enough to hear her were almost nothing.

"Somebody, please, anybody, help! I—I can't swim! Please!" She gasped for air, her limbs feeling like lead and her dress now an enormous weight pulling her under.

"Help! ...HELP!" She was going under...

Orien silently studied the ground, searching for the deer tracks he had been following for the past hour. He had lost them, somehow... he needed to catch this thing, and soon. The group had split up earlier to make hunting easier, but everyone had to be back at the camp by noon. Ha, there they were... he began to follow the tracks once more.

Suddenly, Orien stopped. He thought he had heard something... but no, it was impossible. Resuming his path, he continued to track the deer. There it was again... now, Orien began to listen more closely, straining his ears.

"...can't swim..." He couldn't be hearing this... involuntarily, he found himself turning towards what he thought was the source of the noise.

"help... HELP!" There was no way he was imagining this. Forgetting the deer completely, Orien took off to find the owner of that voice. Within seconds, he found himself at the edge of the Valley Lake. Just below him, he could see a girl thrashing about desperately in the water. She seemed to be slowing... how long had she been down there?

Kicking off his boots and pulling off his shirt, Orien dove in after her.

Lyss couldn't do it anymore... it was hopeless. Giving a silent goodbye to the world she knew she was about to leave, she felt herself slipping under. It was all over... her sight began to cloud over as water filled her mouth... she tried to resist breathing it in...

And then, through her haze, she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and begin to pull her powerfully towards the surface. Who had her? ...maybe an angel was carrying her off to heaven. Air was filling her lungs again...

Swimming to the edge of the lake with the mysterious girl in tow, Orien quickly pulled them back up to the top of the cliff. Immediately examining the girl to see what kind of shape she was in, Orien was relieved to see that she was breathing. But she needed to be taken care of at once... her skin felt like ice. Hastily replacing his boots and shirt, he gently picked the girl up again and headed with new purpose back to the camp.

Wow, that was an intense chapter. Hope you liked it. Please Review!